England suffered second defeat at the ODI World Cup 2023 after 69-run loss to Afghanistan.
England captain Jos Buttler admitted that his team was completely outplayed by Afghanistan in the 13th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023, played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Sunday, October 15. It was England’s first defeat against Afghanistan in ODI World Cup.
Buttler further said that his team failed to perform well with both bat and ball, as the Afghanistan team was at the top of its game in the match.
However, the star wicketkeeper-batsman said that these two defeats against Afghanistan and New Zealand at the ongoing Cricket World Cup 2023 must hurt England for them to make a strong comeback.
Jos Buttler said at the post-match presentation: “Yeah, disappointing. It is a tough loss to digest but congratulations to Afghanistan. Yeah, I think we have to let these defeats hurt us. There is no point in shadowing it. You have to let these defeats hurt for a while, then maybe think of a comeback. We need to reflect on this instead of getting over this quickly.”
The England captain continued, “Yeah, they have a fantastic attack. Obviously, the dew didn't come and favor us. Bit of spin and uneven bounce, but Afghanistan made full use of it. They have some fantastic spinners. The dew didn't come as we expected.
It all came down to the execution. Batting and bowling, and in both departments, they outplayed us. The pitch held up a bit, and they kept bowling dead straight at the stumps. We weren't quite up to the mark. We weren't there where we wanted to be as a unit. This is a learning.”
Buttler signed off by saying, “There are a lot of characters in the group, and we should show some resilience and come back stronger. We need to have guys who perform under pressure, and that is what we are all working hard towards.”
(With IANS/PTI Inputs)